Predicting Tomorrow Helps Keep Workers Safe Today
Leveraging MindSphere and Industry 4.0 to Keep Workers Safe
The pattern of digital transformation is fundamentally disrupting the consumer world. But as much as consumer-facing organizations are changing, the world of global industry is also undergoing intense transformation. In Industry 4.0, or the industrial internet of things (IIoT), industrial operations of all sizes and verticals are beginning to leverage digital platforms to improve operations, streamline supply chains, and more.
One of the latest and most promising avenues for industrial digital disruption is finding new ways to utilize digital platforms to improve worker safety and occupational health.
Better worker insights leading to increased safety
One of the best ways to keep employees safe is to prevent workplace accidents before they happen. When equipment fails, it sometimes does so catastrophically, creating hazardous conditions that put workers near danger. However, with solutions presented by the advent of Industry 4.0, companies are now better equipped to keep employees out of harm’s way.
For example, Arrow Electronics — along with Geniatech and ON Semiconductor — built a solution referred to as “MuSeOn”, which is short for “Multi-Sensor Online.” A simple-looking wearable device, this technology uses five industrial-grade sensors to measure environmental conditions.
Of course, all of the information gathered by the device is useless without a platform to leverage it. This is where Siemens comes in with MindSphere. By taking the data gathered via MuSeOn, MindSphere is able to generate actionable insights which can then be used to keep workers safe. With location tracking and equipment-based sensors, organizations can thoroughly assess safety conditions, quickly ascertain if employees are near dangerous conditions, and send communications to steer them away from a dangerous scenario.
Furthermore, MindSphere allows companies to easily store data of tracked worker movement as well as environmental conditions. This information can be used to perform comprehensive safety audits with greater efficiency. And it’s all done through a single platform. MindSphere not only lowers the expense and timeline for critical safety compliance audits, it also provides insight into efficiency and operational improvement opportunities.
The myriad of benefits of increasing worker safety
Worker safety is always top priority. This is especially true when it comes to heavy equipment, processing facilities, and manufacturing plants. While solutions such as those described above can make this a simpler, safer task, there are other benefits that come with leveraging MindSphere that go beyond keeping workers safe.
One of the biggest benefits to come out of Industry 4.0 so far are solutions that help identify opportunities for preventative maintenance. Equipment failures routinely create dangerous working conditions. Similarly, unplanned downtime is an absolute profit-killer. Performing preventative maintenance before a failure happens allows equipment to operate continuously and employees are kept out of danger while facilities are kept operational as much as possible. Companies like Arrow can provide the ruggedized sensors and communication systems to collect the right data to predict when equipment needs servicing. When this data is combined with the Siemens MindSphere platform, industrial organizations can create actionable insight that will lead to improved reliability and increased worker safety.
Thinking outside the box to improve worker safety
By utilizing today’s modern hardware solutions in conjunction with cutting-edge platforms such as MindSphere from Siemens, organizations can quickly and efficiently improve worker safety and lower operational costs. It’s an exciting time in Industry 4.0. With today’s technology, nearly anything is possible, and thinking one step ahead can keep organizations ahead of the competition.
Find out more about Arrow’s Worker Safety Solution on MindSphere.
About Arrow
Arrow Electronics is a global technology solutions provider. Through aggregation and integration capabilities, Arrow is uniquely positioned to provide customers with all the building blocks for their IoT solution.
Wolfram vom Heu is a Sales Manager, Strategic Projects + Technologies DACH at Arrow Electronics.
